I found myself thinking this late one night recently.

I had an impossible amount of things on my to-do list, my kids were all displaying their frustrations in all sorts of fun ways, I felt misunderstood after a conversation with someone, and I forgot to turn on the crockpot for dinner.

Everything seemed to be going wrong.

In fact, I’ve noticed that when I’m focused on myself, I can pretty quickly convince my brain that I probably have it worse than anyone else right now.

But what happens when I broaden my perspective?

I suddenly remember that I love my family, weaknesses and all. We live in a home. We have food to eat. We are generally nice people.

But then I can broaden my perspective even more!

I reflect on where my life was a decade ago, five years ago, a year ago. Life keeps getting more complicated, but SO much better.⁣ I see my growth.

And then I broaden my perspective to the largest view I can go.

What a blessing it is that I am where I am and that I know what I know. Like, truly. I am so blessed.

One huge purpose of the Book of Mormon is that it:

“…puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.” (Introduction to the Book of Mormon)

When we broaden our perspective that wide, it is SO EASY for our problems, both trivial and serious, to melt away.⁣

We see the most important things more clearly in focus.⁣

In fact, our prophet recently counseled us:

“As you think celestial, you will view trials and opposition in a new light.” – President Nelson

Life has a lot of really difficult things to deal with.

But doing things like reading the Book of Mormon or worshiping in the temple can broaden our perspective to see things as they really are.

And that bigger perspective allows the Spirit to show us the truth:

That everything will be for our joy and our eternal progression.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Broadening my perspective first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Really? I’m supposed to read the Book of Mormon AGAIN?”

“Another lesson about faith? We talked about this a few months ago!”

“Eh, I’ve already been to the temple. I’ve heard it all before.”

I think we all understand that repetition is essential when it comes to gospel principles.

We need repetition.

And thank goodness!

At the beginning of the Book of Mormon, we read many different testimonies and witnesses of people teaching us that they know the Book of Mormon is a book of God.

Testimony of Joseph Smith.

Testimony of Three Witnesses.

Testimony of Eight Witnesses.

“Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken. . . .”

Why do we need so many people telling us this book is true?

Our mortal brains need the power of REPETITION.

It truly is a blessing that God knows our minds need repetition for us to receive inspiration and knowledge.

Why are we asked to attend the temple over and over?

Why do we read the same scriptures?

Why are General Conference talks given on the same subjects year after year?

I think those are great questions to think about this week.

Really— why do we need that repetition?

What are the blessings of divine repetition?

When has your testimony been impacted by repetition?

Instead of becoming prideful and turning up our noses at “the stuff we’ve already heard before…”

We can humble ourselves.

We can embrace the repetitiveness of the gospel.

And we can use our growing spiritual maturity to capture the messages our souls crave.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The Book of Mormon again?! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve heard it all about my religion.⁣

But check out what we read in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon:

“We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true.

“Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

⁣Any sort of argument against my beliefs completely breaks down when I can bear testimony of the Book of Mormon. ⁣

I wasn’t peer pressured into thinking the Book of Mormon is true.

I had a personal, powerful experience that led 14-year-old me to realize that this book was actually true.⁣

And my life since then has been sprinkled with moments, both big and small, where I am positive that this book contains nothing but truth.

And I’ve discovered that my testimony of the Book of Mormon has been something I’ve needed to lean on.

Joseph Smith was told that his name would be had for good and for evil throughout the world.

And boy is Satan working on fulfilling that prophesy full-time. ⁣

And I won’t lie, I’ve had to wrestle with some info about Joseph.

But no matter the accusations from the outside, or the wrestling within…

The adversary can never take away the personal witness that I have received while reading the Book of Mormon and acting on its words.

And there are millions who have received this same witness for themselves.

And the cool part?

We can get this witness over and over if we ask with real intent. ⁣

In fact, what a cool way to start your study of the Book of Mormon:

Skip to the last chapter.

Moroni Chapter 10.

Read it and pray.⁣

Your powerful witness might come all at once.

Your powerful witness might come gradually as you make the Book of Mormon more important in your life this year. ⁣

But the witness will come. ⁣

The witness will come to YOU.

I’m so grateful for a religion that encourages me to study and decide on my own.

And for a sacred Book that has never let me down.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Brainwashed first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I used to wonder why I should really even care about studying history.

I mean, I guess it’s cool to know, but it doesn’t really affect my life.

And if you think about it, that’s really what most scriptures are—

Collections of stories from people who lived a really really really long time ago.

The Title Page of the Book of Mormon gives one of the primary purposes of the book:

“Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers. . . .”

Now THAT is a powerful reason that affects me.

God expects me to study and learn about the great things He has done for people in the past so that I can know what to expect from Him in the future!

He wants me to learn how He works.

The actual stories in the Book of Mormon may seem completely unrelated to what we are dealing with in our personal lives.

But there is so much to learn about how God interacts with people who make covenants with Him and remember Him.

There are so many great stories we will study this year.

And as we study each event, it helps when I pause and ask myself:

How would I have responded in this situation?

What would I have done or said or thought?

What are the emotions and principles here?

Simple questions like these help my brain figure out how the Nephites’ experiences with wars, secret combinations, and

evil kings can apply to my experiences with busy schedules, difficult people, and keeping the commandments.

Studying in the past can seem silly at face value.

But with an unchanging and immovable God, the patterns become meaningful and relevant.

I don’t study the scriptures just for the gripping plot lines and character development—

I study the scriptures to learn how God deals with His covenant children so that I know what I can expect as I create my own relationship with Him.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why do we care about history?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.